You Sure You Wanna Go There...?

An End to an Era?

There was a time not that long ago when the Journal's section was the first place I checked whenever I logged into CM. Several of my friends are writers and more often than not, I would find that three or more of them had written something, and usually made it on to the popular list.

Not to say I only read their journals; I've read hundreds of journals written by writers worthy of the title here on CM. There were a lot to choose from. Some were hilarious, others serious, generally insightful, but more to the point... there was a lot to choose from. There was a lot to read.

I'm not the only one who has noticed a decline in the Journal's section, not just in quantity but in quality too. It doesn't have the same punch that it used to; good journals often go unnoticed by the masses of CM, usually only commented on by their friends. I think that a lot of people hang out in their groups, or read and comment on The Stir, or go to the Answers section... or are on Facebook, enjoying the quick and easy access to all and sundry that it offers. The Journal's section has always ebbed and flowed, but now it's just... dying off.

I miss it! I miss the good and the bad, the drama and the mundane, the funny and the serious. I miss the comments being tossed around, even the arguments that they sometimes spawned. It was passionate and fun and while there were some serious jerkfaces out there, they weren't anything that the majority of us couldn't handle; in fact a lot of us relished a good debate, loved spitting mentally into our hands and popping our mental knuckles before unleashing a flurry of grammatically correct rebuttals on our detractors. Most of it was done in serious fun, and although it got ugly from time to time, I believe that the ugly was the exception and not the norm.

I miss writing. I used to write a journal or three, but now? Now it just seems almost pointless. I feel like, who is going to read it, other than my friends? Not that I need an audience to write, but on a format like this, unless you make your journals private, the reason you write is so that other people will read it. Most of the writing I do these days is in my personal journal, actual paper and pen. Most of the writing most of my friends do anymore is not here, but elsewhere. There are a few that still hang in there, that write a good piece every once in awhile, but usually it falls by the wayside rather quickly not because it isn't worth reading, but because it just doesn't seem to be getting read.

Today a strange thing happened. Today I logged onto the Popular Posts list, and there was not a single journal on it. Not one. I checked the Recent Posts, and there were only three new ones. Three!

Is the Journal's section going.... going... almost gone? Are you okay with that? Where did everybody GO?

Comments:

Jenna, I couldn't have said it better myself. I miss it too and I lament the loss of such a great platform. It makes me sad, but I think our lives have been reduced to 140 characters of less. Call me old-fashioned (or just old), but I can't express myself in 140 characters or less and I don't like to only check in on my friends in such small little sound-bites. I know everyone is busy, hell I have four kids myself, I know what busy is, but I still find it sad that we can't make the time for our friends any more. And this journal section is where I met a great number of those who I now call friend. I'm not sure whether to just let it go and resign myself to the fact that things have to change with the times or to kick and scream and stage a revolt.

Today was the first time I've ever logged on and found (as you said) NO POP Journals...wow, huh? Maybe it's because it's Summer and everyone is out having fun? IDK...but, I'd rather see nothing than all the "Ads" that have recently been up.

The journals use to be the first thing I read, it made me feel good when I could reach out and give good advice to a stranger but I have not been in the journals in years until today. I mostly go to my groups to continue the discussions we have each day or to see what's new. Is the first time I have a group that is drama free and all on there a real nice women who try to help each one another. I do miss the journal and hadn't really thought about it to much, to bad if it's a dying thing like so many out there like the written letter. Maybe we should all become penpals.